Multifunctional conferencing systems and methods

ABSTRACT

A conferencing system for providing remote assistance according to the present disclosure includes a service requester device configured to execute a service requester application, a service provider device configured to execute a service provider application and a server application executing on a computer server remotely located from the service requester and service provider devices, the service requester and service provider applications are configured to dynamically connect to each other through the at least one server application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/768,457, filed on Feb. 15, 2013, which claimsthe benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/599,862 filed on Feb. 16, 2012, the entire contents of eachof which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

This disclosure relates generally to multifunctional conferencingsystems and methods of use.

Background of Related Art

As is known in the art, teleconferencing systems, video conferencingsystems, and web conferencing systems are used in a wide variety ofsettings to enable effective communication among local and remote sites.Each of the local and remote sites have a teleconferencing system(including a telecommunication device with a loudspeaker andmicrophone), a video conferencing system (including a video camera, avideo monitor, a loudspeaker and a microphone), and/or a webconferencing system (including a web-connected computer and videomonitor, and may include a loudspeaker, microphone and video camera). Atleast one site includes a director controller that enables adirector/host to control the distribution of signals (audio, videoand/or information) produced at each of the sites for viewing and/orlistening by the participants at the other sites.

For example, a web conference system includes a host that selects whichsite and/or sites to transmit the video information signals to the othersites. The host may also select which participant(s) is capable ofsharing information with the other participant(s) or the host mayprovide the control of the web conference system to another participant.As such, the host may act as an instructor, a moderator or aparticipant.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to an improved multifunctionalconferencing system and methods of use. A conferencing system forproviding remote assistance according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure includes a service requester device configured to execute aservice requester application, a service provider device configured toexecute a service provider application and a server applicationexecuting on a computer server remotely located from the servicerequester and service provider devices. The service requester andservice provider applications are configured to dynamically connect toeach other through the server application.

The dynamic connection between the service requester and serviceprovider devices is dependant on the bandwidth of the connectiontherebetween. The server application dynamically selects a connectionbetween the service requester and service provider devices wherein theconnection is selected between an audio connection, an audio and videoconnection, an audio and still image connection and a SMS messagingconnection. A mode of connection between the service requester deviceand the server application is selected from a wi-fi communicationnetwork and a wireless phone communication network.

A conferencing system for providing remote assistance according to anembodiment of the present disclosure includes a service requester devicenetworked with a service provider device through a server application.The service requester device includes a video camera, a video monitor, aspeaker and a microphone, and the service provider device is configuredto enable and/or disable one of the video camera, the video monitor, thespeaker and the microphone.

The service provider device may be configured to direct content to thevideo monitor of the service requester device. The service providerdevice enables the video camera and receive a stream of images generatedby the video camera. The steam of images is streamed to the serviceprovider device through the network formed between the service requesterand service provider devices. The service provider device is configuredto capture a captured image from the stream of images. The serviceprovider device displays the captured image on the video monitor of theservice requester device. The pixel resolution of the captured image maybe greater than the pixel resolution of each image forming the stream ofimages. The service provider device is configured to display anannotation on the video monitor of the service requester device andconfigured to display content on the video monitor of the servicerequester device. The displayed content may include video, an imageand/or a text document.

A conferencing system for providing remote assistance according to anembodiment of the present disclosure includes a service requester deviceconfigured to execute a service requester application, a plurality ofservice provider devices each configured to execute a service providerapplication and a server application executing on a computer serverremotely located from the service provider and service requesterdevices, the service requester application configured to simultaneouslyconnect to the plurality of service provider devices.

The plurality of service provider devices may be dynamically selected bythe service requester device. The dynamic selection of the plurality ofservice provider devices may be related to a dynamic selection parameterselected by a user on the service requester device. The dynamicselection parameter may be selected from a selected instrument ordevice, a selected location, a selected description of neededassistance, a selected medical procedure, an identifying feature and anidentification code. The dynamic selection of the plurality of serviceprovider devices may be related to a dynamic selection parametergenerated by the service requester device such as global positioncoordinate and/or a wireless network coordinate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure aredescribed herein with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a service communication network in accordance withthe present disclosure that includes a service requester connected to aservice provider through one or more server applications residing on acloud-based server;

FIG. 2 illustrates a service communication network that includes servicerequesters located in various locations and connected to serviceproviders through cloud-based servers;

FIG. 3 illustrates a plurality of service requester devices and aplurality of service provider devices that connect to each other througha suitable communication network;

FIG. 4 illustrates a service requester that connects to a serviceprovider through a cloud-based server and connects indirectly to otherresources provided through the service provider;

FIG. 5 illustrates service communication network architecture with aVoIP Provider application, an MPEG over HTTP Streaming Serversapplication, a connection through an XMPP over HTTP Annotation/SessionServer application and an HTTP File Server Application;

FIG. 6 illustrates systems and methods for identifying equipmentproximate a service requester, wherein the systems and methods utilizeone or more aspects of the service requester multifunctionalcommunication device;

FIG. 7 is screen snap-shot of a service provider application asdisplayed on the display of the service provider device in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a setup thread for the setup moduleaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a registration thread for registration ofnew communication sockets;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a pairing thread for the pairing registeredconnections;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a pairing processing thread for processingthe paired source and destination sockets;

FIG. 12A is a block diagram of a service requester and service providerpaired through a server application according to an embodiment of thepresent application; and

FIG. 12B is a timing diagram for communication through the serverapplication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the followingdetailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in orderto provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It willbe apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the presentdisclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, andnetworks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarilyobscure aspects of the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguishone element from another. For example, a first object could be termed asecond object, and, similarly, a second object could be termed a firstobject, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

The terminology used in the description of the disclosure herein is fordescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting of the disclosure. As used in the description of the inventionand the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or”as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possiblecombinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will befurther understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” whenused in this specification, specify the presence of stated features,integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof.

As used herein, the terms “service requester device” and “serviceprovider device” refer to multifunctional communication devices thatinclude user interfaces. One or more of the multifunctionalcommunication devices may be a portable communication device such as amobile phone, a Smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tabletcomputer and/or a wrist-mounted computer. The multifunctionalcommunication devices include hardware supported by a variety ofapplications, such as telephone applications, video conferencingapplications, e-mail applications, instant messaging applications,digital camera applications, digital video camera applications, webbrowsing applications, digital music player applications, and/or digitalvideo player applications.

Multifunctional communication device may include two or more componentsthat work in conjunction with each other to provide the functionality ofa single portable communication device. For example, multifunctionalcommunication device may include a separate audio earpiece, a separateeyepiece that captures and/or displays video and a separate processingunit that communicates with the other components via a wired and/orwireless communication network.

The applications may be executed on the multifunctional communicationdevice and may use at least one common physical user-interface device,such as the touch screen. Applications may include the following modules(or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof: a telephonemodule; a video conferencing module; an e-mail client module; an instantmessaging (IM) module; a camera module for still and/or video images; animage management module; a video player and/or recorder module; a audioplayer and/or recorder module; and/or a browser module. Modules may beconfigured to interface with one or more hardware components in theMultifunctional communication device.

The multifunctional communication device may include RF (radiofrequency) circuitry that receives and sends RF signals. The RFcircuitry converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signalsand communicates with communications networks and other communicationsdevices via the electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry may includewell-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but notlimited to, an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or moreamplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signalprocessor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card,memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry may communicate with networks,such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web(hereinafter, “WWW”), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as acellular telephone network (Telnet), a wireless local area network (LAN)and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices that utilizewireless communication. The term wireless communication may also includeany of a plurality of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a,IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet messageaccess protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instantmessaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP),Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and PresenceLeveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), and/or Instant Messaging and PresenceService (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS)), or any othersuitable communication protocol, including communication protocols notyet developed as of the filing date of this document.

The multifunctional communication device may include audio circuitry, aspeaker, and a microphone that provides audio interface between a userand the multifunctional communication device. The audio circuitryreceives audio data, converts the audio data to an electrical signal,and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker. The speaker convertsthe electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitryalso receives electrical signals converted by the microphone from soundwaves. The audio circuitry converts the electrical signal to audio dataand transmits the audio data for processing. Audio data may be retrievedfrom and/or transmitted to memory and/or the RF circuitry by theperipherals interface. Audio circuitry may include a headset jack thatprovides an interface between the audio circuitry and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

The multifunctional communication device may include an input/outputperipheral such as the touch screen or other input or control devicessuch as physical buttons (e.g., push buttons or rocker buttons), dials,slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. Themultifunctional communication device may be coupled to any (or none) ofthe following: a keyboard (e.g., QWERTY), infrared port, USB port,and/or a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons mayinclude an up/down button for volume control of the speaker and/or themicrophone. The one or more buttons may include a push button configuredto disengage or lock the touch screen. The touch screen is used toimplement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen provides an input interface and anoutput interface between the multifunctional communication device and auser. The multifunctional communication device receives and/or sendselectrical signals from/to the touch screen. The touch screen displaysvisual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text,icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed“graphics”). Some or all of the visual output may correspond touser-interface objects, further details of which are described below.

In some embodiments, the multifunctional communication device includeshardware components and software stored in memory configured tointerface with the hardware components. One hardware component mayinclude a global positioning system (GPS) module 135 that determines thelocation of the multifunctional communication device and provides thisinformation for use in various hardware and/or applications (e.g., totelephone, camera, contact/motion module).

In conjunction with an imaging module that includes one or more opticalsensors to capture still images or video. In some embodiments, anoptical sensor is located on the back of the device, opposite the touchscreen display on the front of the device, so that the touch screendisplay may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video imageacquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on thefront of the device so that the user's image may be obtained forvideoconferencing while the user views the other video conferenceparticipants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, theposition of the optical sensor can be changed by the user (e.g., byrotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a singleoptical sensor may be used along with the touch screen display for bothvideo conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a service communication network 100 inaccordance with the present disclosure is shown. The servicecommunication network 100, in the simplest configuration, includes aservice requester 110 a, 110 n that connects to a service provider 120a, 120 n through one or more server applications residing on one or moreservers. In the service communication network 100, the service requesteris typically an individual requesting technical or professionalassistance. For example, the service requester 110 a, 110 n may be anon-site distributor, technician or troubleshooter or the servicerequester 110 a, 110 n may be an end-product user such as a doctor, orother hospital personnel, or the service requester 110 a, 110 n may bean end-user consumer.

The server applications that provide connections between the individualservice requesters 110 a, 110 n and the service providers 120 a, 120 nmay reside on any public cloud-computing service 120 (hereinafter “TheCloud 130”). While The Cloud 130 provides a service that executes theservice communication network server applications rather than providinga dedicated identifiable server (e.g., hardware) to execute the serverapplication, one or more dedicated servers, or a fractional portion oftheir computing capability, may be utilized to execute the serverapplications and to provide functionality described herein.

The service communication network 100 may also function as apeer-to-peer system (e.g., without a special purpose server executingthe server application) wherein the functionality of the serverapplications described herein is incorporated into the service provider120 a, 120 n. Alternatively, the functionality of the serverapplications and the functionality of the service provider applicationdescribed herein may be assigned and executed in any suitabledistribution between the various computing engines (e.g., The Cloud 130,the service requester device and/or the service provider devices).

FIG. 1 illustrates a service requester 110 a at Location 1 connected toa first service provider 120 a assigned to provide support for Location1 and a service requester 110 n at Location N connected to a secondservice provider 120 n assigned to provide support for Location N. Thefirst service provider 120 a and the second service provider 120 n,while assigned to support Location 1 and Location N, respectively, eachare not necessarily located at the respective locations when the requestfrom the service requester 110 a, 110 n is made. The servicecommunication network 100 may also connect a service requester 100 a,110 n to a service provider 100 a, 110 n physically located at acentralized call center. The service communication network 100 isscalable and may be configured to connect any number of servicerequesters 110 a, 110 n at different locations to service providers 110a, 110 n at different locations or service provides 110 a, 110 n at oneor more call centers.

Executing the server applications of the service communication network100 in The Cloud 130 enables the server applications to be distributedthrough the computer networks in The Cloud 130. As illustrated in FIG.2, service communication network 100 includes one or more requestercommunication networks 130 a and service provider networks 130 b. Therequester communication networks 120 a connect a service requester 110c, 110 s and 110 u to The Cloud 130 and a provider communication network130 b connects a service provider 120 u to The Cloud 130. The connectionbetween a service requesters 110 c, 110 s, 110 u and the serviceprovider 120 u (e.g., individual service providers or call serviceproviders at a dedicated call center) may be performed through The Cloud130 thereby removing any geographical barriers therebetween.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a service requester is provided with a servicerequester device 112 a, 112 b (as defined and described herein)configured to connect to The Cloud 130 via a requester communicationnetwork 130 a (e.g., WiFi, WWW, Telnet, LAN, MAN or any other suitablecommunication network). The service requester device 112 a, 112 b may beconfigured to detect the most suitable network within the requestercommunication network 130 a. In one embodiment, the service requesterdevice 112 a, 112 b selects the most suitable network within therequester communication network 130 a based on bandwidth. In anotherembodiment, the service requester device 112 a, 112 b selects the mostsuitable network based on reliability. In another embodiment, theservice requester device 112 a, 112 b selects the most suitable networkbased on the wireless telephone technology available (e.g., 2G, 2.5G,2.75G, 3G and 4G). The service requester device 112 a, 112 b isconfigured to enable and disable services and functionality based on oneor more conditions of the service communication network 100 and/or oneor more conditions of the requester communication network 130 a.

The service provider may be provided with a service provider device 121a, 121 b. The service provider device 121 a, 121 b may be a Smartphone,a tablet computer, or a personal computer, such as a laptop computerand/or desktop computer (as defined and described herein) configured toconnect to The Cloud 130 via a requester communication network 130 b.The service provider device 121 a, 121 b may also interface and/orinterconnect with a personal computer thereby providing the flexibilityand functionality of a mobile communications device and the processingand networking capability of the personal computer.

As discussed hereinabove, the service requester device 112 a, 112 band/or service provider device 121 a, 121 b may be configured todynamically select from one or more available communication networksbased on one or more properties of the service communication network 100as described herein.

Service provider device 121 a, 121 b connects to The Cloud 130 via aservice communication network 130 b (WiFi, WWW, Telnet, LAN, MAN or anyother suitable communication network). In another embodiment, serviceprovider is located in a service provider call center and connects toThe Cloud 130 via a high-speed LAN or other suitable high-speed network.

Requester device 122 a, 122 b and/or service provider device 121 a, 121b may connect to The Cloud 130 through one or more Firewalls 132 a orother program and/or system serving as a network gatekeeper. In someinstances, the service provider device 121 a, 121 b may be required toconnect through the same firewall 132 a multiple times. In oneembodiment, the service requester device 112 a, 112 b and/or the serviceprovider device 121 a, 121 b bypasses one or more firewalls after asuitable connection to The Cloud 130 is established.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a service requester 110 h (e.g., a HospitalCustomer) connects to the service provider 120 h (e.g., OnsiteDistributor assigned to the service requester's hospital). The serviceprovider 120 h, in addition to the connection to the service requester110 h, may also connect other resources 140 through the servicecommunication network 100. In one embodiment, the service provider 120 hmay connect to, and receive support from, a team member of the CRSClinical Case Support team 140 a assigned as a resource 140 to theservice provider 120 h or assigned as a resource 140 to the HospitalCustomer 110 h. In another embodiment, the service provider 120 h mayconnect to, and receive support from a team member of the CSR ProductService team 140 b assigned as a resource 140 to the service provider120 h or assigned as a resource 140 to the Hospital Customer 110 h. Inyet another embodiment, a CRS Product Service team member 140 b mayconnect to, and receive support from, a member of the Call CenterSupport team 140 c. As such, the service requester 110 h is directlyconnected with the service provider 120 h and indirectly connected tothe various resources available to the service requester 120 h (e.g.,CRS Clinical Case Support 140 a, CSR Product Service 140 b and CallCenter Support 140) through the service requester 120 h.

Each service requester 110 h is assigned to a service provider group150. The service provider group 150 includes one or more serviceproviders 120 h and resources 140 that may be required to provideassistance to the service requester 110 h. The service providers 120 hand/or resources 140 assigned to the service provider group 150 mayinclude individuals with particular expertise and experience (subjectmatter experts), individuals with particular interest in providingexceptional service to the service requester 110 h (sales, service andmanagement) or individuals that have provided past services to theservice provider 120 h and/or the service requester 120 h.

Resources 140 assigned to the service requester 110 h and/or provided tothe service provider group 150 may include service requester information140 d. Service requester information 140 d includes information relatedto the service requester 110 h selected from one or more databases. Theservice requester information 140 d may include log data/reports frompast service requests, past and projected sales data related to theservice requester 110 h (e.g., location and/or facility of the servicerequester 110 h), information related to the products provided to theservice requester 110 h and/or service provider 120 h (e.g., products ininventory at the location and/or facility) and/or data related to pastor future training information related to the service requester 110 h.

Selection/assignment of members and/or resources 140 in a serviceprovider group 150 is not limited by geographical location oravailability of a network connection. The members and/or resources 140may connect to The Cloud 130 through any available network connectionregardless of location. Alternatively, the members and/or resources 140may connect directly to the service provider 120 h through any otherweb-based or telecommunication based network as will be described indetail below.

The members and resources 140 of the service provider group 150 may bedynamically selected. The service requester 110 h and/or the serviceprovider 120 h may select information related to the nature and/orpurpose of the specific service request and the service communicationnetwork 100 may assign and/or reassign resources 140 based on theselected information. For example, the service requester 110 h may be afield service representative responsible for demonstrating a firstproduct and assigned to a service provider group 150 related to thefirst product. In order to provide good service, the service requester110 h may be required to demonstrate a second product unrelated to thefirst product. A service provider group 150 related to the secondproduct may be temporarily assigned to the service requester 110 h(e.g., field service representative) and may provide assistance to theservice requester 110 h in demonstrating the second product unrelated tothe first product.

The dynamic selection of the service provider group 150 may be relatedto GPS coordinates provided by the service requester device 112 h. Forexample, the service requester device 112 h may provide a GPS coordinateor wireless network coordinate to the service communication network 100.Resources 140 outside of the service provider group 150 locatedproximate to the service requester 110 h may be identified, notifiedand/or temporarily assigned to the service provider group 150. Forexample, a service requester 110 h may request services from its serviceprovider group 150 and a resource outside of the service provider group150 and local to the service requester 110 h may be identified, assignedto the service provider group 150 and directed (or re-directed) toprovide on-site service to the service requester 110 h.

In another embodiment, the service provider 120 h and/or servicerequester 110 h is dynamically directed to, or redirected to, a serviceand/or repair team. For example, service requester information 140 ofthe service requester 110 h and/or the service requester device 112 hmay identify equipment proximate the service requester 110 h thatrequires service and/or repairs. Identification of equipment proximateto the service requester device 112 h is described in detail below. Inyet another embodiment, the service provider 120 h is connected with anindividual located nearby the service requester 110 h based on GPSinformation provided by the service requester 110 h and/or provided bythe service requester device 112 h.

The resources 140 provided and/or required for each servicecommunication network 100 are related to the nature of the particularbusiness. For example, resources 140 for a medical product company mayinclude product expert resources, product supply resources, clinicaltrial experts and patient care resources while resources for amanufacturing company may include OEM equipment experts, repair and partreplacement resources, raw material supplier resources and material andproduct supply chain resources that support a particular manufacturingline or process.

In one embodiment, a medical supply company provides a first team ofresources to facilitate service requests from medical doctors requestingservices, a second team of resources to facilitate service requests fromfield service product representatives and a third team of resources tofacilitate service requests from field repair representatives.

FIG. 5 illustrates one communication model between a service requesterapplication 212 a (e.g., aurorafield 212 a residing and executing on theserver requester device 212) and a service provider application 221 a(e.g., aurorasupport 221 a residing and executing on the serviceprovider device 221). The service requester device 212 and serviceprovider device 221 are illustrated as being protected by a Firewallwith Network Address Translation (NAT) 232 a, 232 b although the servicecommunication network 200 does not necessarily require a Firewall 232 a,232 b or Firewall protection. The communication architecture includes aconnection through a VoIP Provider application 201, a connection throughan MPEG over HTTP Streaming Servers application 202, a connectionthrough an XMPP over HTTP Annotation/Session Server application 203 andan HTTP File Server Application 204.

Systems, protocols, file types and formats provided and described hereinare provided as exemplary systems, protocols, file types and/or format.As such, the specific system, protocol, file type, and/or format shouldnot be constructed as limiting as other suitable systems, protocols,file types and formats are readily available and, under manycircumstances, interchangeable with the systems, protocols, file typesand/or formats discussed herein. For example, the transmission of MPEGaudio and/or video over a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) may beinterchanged with any suitable format (e.g., MPEG-4, MJPEG, H.264, etc.)using any suitable protocol.

One data stream includes the VoIP Provider 201 through whichstandardized packets are transmitted in the real-time transport protocol(RTP) used in conjunction with the RTP Control Protocol (RTCP). TheRTP/RTCP may be used for real-time streaming of voice and/or videobetween the service requester device 212 and the service provider device221. The RTP/RTCP data stream may be configured through any suitableVoIP Provider. In another embodiment, at least one of one or more serverapplications 202-204 in The Cloud 230 performs the VoIP functions.

Another data stream includes an MPEG over HTTP Streaming Serverapplication 202 that streams data using a standard Hypertext TransferProtocol (HTTP) configured to transmit MPEG data through the streamingserver application 202 that resides in The Cloud 230.

Yet another data stream includes an XMPP over HTTP Annotation/SessionServer application 203 that streams data using Extensible Messaging andPresence Protocol (XMPP) configured to transmit near real-time messagingand VoIP. XMPP, also known as Jabberd, executes through theannotation/session server application 203 and provides a gateway toaccess networks using other protocols such as SMS or Email. The servicerequester application 212 a and service provider application 221 a eachregister with the annotation/session server application 203. Theannotation/session server application 203 authenticates the individualuser, opens a server session and provides the service requesterapplication 212 a and/or the service provider application 221 a withinformation required to continue and/or maintain the server session andcomplete the launch the service requester application 212 a and serviceprovider application 221 a. Information provided to the servicerequester application 212 a and service provider application 221 a mayinclude session initiation protocol (SIP) information, Video Proxyinformation, User Information, and Jabberd Information.

Yet another data stream includes an HTTP connection through a fileserver application 204.

Service requester device 212 is configured to execute a servicerequester application 212 a and service provider device 221 (e.g., acomputer or tablet) is configured to execute a service providerapplication 221 a. The service requester application 212 a and serviceprovider application 221 a each interact with the various components andfeatures of the respective device 212, 221, and each device 212, 221connect with The Cloud 230 (e.g., the one or more server applications202-204 residing on one or more servers in The Cloud 230). The serviceprovider application 221 a is described in general terms and nodistinctions are made as to whether the service provider application 221a is executing on a multifunctional communication device or executing ona personal computer. It is understood that each device requiresdifferent programming and includes different functionality or mayrequire different hardware to provide comparable functionality.

Launching the service requester application 212 a (or the serviceprovider application 221 a) establishes a connection between theAnnotation/Session Server 203 and the service requester device 212 (orservice provider device 221). In one embodiment, the Annotation/sessionserver 203 provides a centralized location for all application levelsettings for the service communication network 200. A central locationfor the application level settings allows an administrator of theservice communication network 200 to have control over the applicationbehavior. A central location also allows the administrator of theservice communication network 100 to be able to manage the devices thatuse each application. Providing a central location prevents unauthorizedaccess of the service communication network 200 by a device that is notregistered with the system and/or authorized to utilize the servicecommunication network 200. The centralized location for all applicationlevel settings for the service communication network 200 may beincorporated into any suitable server and/or incorporated into anysuitable application that resides and executes in The Cloud 230.

The service requester device 212 and/or service provider device 221receive user information from the annotation/session server 203 andregisters/authenticates the user. If the authentication request sent tothe server is already registered, the username and password provided bythe service requester device 212 and/or the service provider device 221are matched against the username and password stored on the sessionserver 203. If, however, the user is not registered, a not authenticatederror message is generated, a request to register is sent and asubsequent authorization with a username/password at the device 221, 212is required to configure the device 221, 212 for the session server 203.

The XMPP JID (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, e.g.,JabberID) is defined by the service communication network 200administrator who registers at the session server 203 each servicerequester device 212 and service provider device 221 authorized toutilize the service communication network 200. The messaging protocolsdescribed herein are provided as exemplary protocols and may beinterchanged with any suitable messaging protocol.

After launching the service requester application 221 a and/or serviceprovider application 221 a and establishing the required connections toThe Cloud 230, the service requester device 212 and the service providerdevice 221 are ready to initiate and/or join a request for service. Inone embodiment, a service request may only be initiated by a servicerequester 210. In another embodiment, a service provider 220 mayinitiate a restricted connection with a service requester 210 whereinthe functionality of the service communication network 200 is limited.For example, the restricted connection may be limited to a SMS messageor a VoIP connection. In another embodiment, the service requester 210or service provider 220 may initiate a restricted connection and theservice requester 210 is provided with the ability to enabling furthercapabilities of the service communication network 200.

Prior to initiating a request for service, the service requester 210 mayprovide information related to the needed assistance. The servicerequester application 212 a may provide selections related to the typeof assistance needed (e.g., clinical, technical, sales, upgrade, andrepair). The service requester application 212 a may provide selectionsrelated to the type of equipment being used by the service requester210. The service requester application 212 a may provide a series ofinstructions that may be used to identify the type of equipment beingused. Finally, the service requester application 212 a may utilize oneor more features of the service requester device 212 to identify theequipment proximate to the service requester 210, as described in detailbelow.

A service request is initiated by the service requester 210 by selectinga request for assistance icon, or other selection device, on the servicerequester device 212. The service requester application 212 a sends aservice request and the session initiation protocol identification(hereinafter, “SIP ID”) and password (provided to the service requesterapplication 212 a from the annotation/session server 203 when theservice requester application 212 a was initiated). The servicerequester device 212 is registered with the SIP ID and connects with theannotation/session server 203 in The Cloud 230. The service request mayalso include information related to the service requester 210 and/orinformation related to the needed assistance. Information related to theservice requester 210 may include geographical coordinates and/orinformation that uniquely identifies the service requester 210.

The service request and information from the service request device 212is received by the annotation/session server 203 in The Cloud 230. Inone embodiment, the annotation/session server 203 identifies the servicerequester 210 and selects a service provided group, as discussedhereinabove, suited for the service request. In one embodiment, theselected service provider group is the service provider group assignedto the service requester 210. In another embodiment, the selectedservice provider group is related to the information provided from theservice requester device 212. Additional members and/or resources may beadded to the selected service provider group based on the identificationof the service requester 210 and/or information provided from theservice requester device 212.

The annotation/session server 203 may compile data related to theservice requester 210 and the compile data and/or the service requesterinformation (described above) may be used to select the service providergroup, assign additional members to the service provider group and/orremove members from the service provider group.

The members and resources in the selected service provider group arenotified of the incoming service request. The notice may indicate that aservice request is pending or the notice may indicate that a servicerequest from the identified service requester 210 is pending. In oneembodiment, the service provider device 221 retrieves informationrelated to the service requester 210 from the annotation/session server203. In one embodiment, a real-time HTTP request is made to theannotation/session server 203 to provide details for the servicerequester 210 assigned to the specified SIP ID.

At least one of the members of the selected service provider groupreceives a notification including an icon that allows the serviceprovider 220 to accept the service request and initiate direct contactwith the service requester 210. The remaining members and resources mayreceive a SMS notification, or similar electronic communication,indicating that the service requester 210 has initiated a servicerequest. In another embodiment, two or more members of the selectedservice provider group receive an icon that allows the service provider220 to accept the service request and initiate direct contact with theservice requester 210. After a member accepts the service request, theremaining members and resources may receive a SMS notification, orsimilar electronic communication, identifying the service provider 220that accepted the service request.

The service provider 220 that accepted the service request provides theSIP ID and password (provided to the service provided application 221 afrom the annotation/session server 203 when the service providerapplication 221 a was initiated). The service provider device 221 isregistered with the SIP and connects with the annotation/session server203 in The Cloud 230. The service requester application 212 a isnotified that the call has been accepted and the service requesterapplication 212 a may make a real-time HTTP request to theannotation/session server 203 to obtain information related to theservice provider 220 that accepted the service request (e.g., the SIP IDof the service provider 220).

The service requester application 212 a and the service providerapplication 221 a connect to each other through the Jabberd server andconnect through the video proxy. The service requester application 212 ainitiates video and provides video to the service provider application221 a through the video proxy. The service requester application 212 asends an unfreeze jabber message to the service provider application 221a wherein the unfreeze message acts as a “ready-state” message to theservice provider application 221 a to prepared for an incoming videostream. Service provider application 221 a requests a connection withthe video proxy and the video proxy starts sending live stream videofrom the service requester application 212 a to the service providerapplication 221 a.

The initiation and initialization of the connection between the servicerequester application 212 a and the service provider application 221 amay be accomplished by other sequences and/or methods. For example, theconnection may be a peer-to-peer connection wherein deviceidentification information is pushed to one of the service requesterapplication 212 a and/or the service provider application 221 a.

Service provider 220 makes appropriate inquiries to the servicerequester 210 to determine the purpose and nature of the servicerequest. Service provider 220 may utilize the audio connection and videoconnection with the service requester 210. The nature and purpose of theservice request may be related to any type of service including, but notlimited to on-site training, operation of a specific device orequipment, providing sales information, troubleshooting of the problem,system or equipment. Specific examples include providing assistance withwiring or interconnecting equipment, providing instructions for use ofequipment, providing documentation on a process or product, locatingspecific features on equipment, providing a plurality of operation stepsfor operation of equipment, providing safety instructions for equipmentor for product use and handling, providing information related to salesof a product and viewing the operation of equipment.

In many instances, one step in providing service requires properidentification of equipment being used by the service requester. FIG. 6illustrates several systems and methods that may be utilize through theservice communication network 200 to properly identify equipmentproximate to the service requester. The service provider may utilize oneor more aspects of the service requester multifunctional communicationdevice 212 to identify equipment proximate the service requester 210.

In one embodiment, the service provider 220 may utilize the camera 212 bon the service requester device 212 to identifiable equipment 260 a, 260c. Service provider 220 may provide specific instructions to the servicerequester 210 to position the camera 212 b on an identifiable feature ofequipment 260 a (e.g., position the camera such that the identifiablefeature is in field of view of the camera 212 b. Identifiable featuresmay include a bar code, an identifying marker (e.g., model and serialnumber), an identifying color swatch, an identifying shape specific tothe equipment 260 a, 260 c, and/or an identifying color bug (e.g., makerwith specific shape and color combination). The camera 212 b may also beused to capture an image of the one or more aspects or identifiablefeatures of the equipment 260 a, 260 c.

In another embodiment, the camera 212 b is utilized to capture aplurality of images in order to identify the equipment 260 a, 260 c. Forexample, a first image of the equipment 260 a, 260 c may be used orcaptured to narrow the number of possibilities. A second image mayfurther narrow the number of possibilities and/or may positivelyidentify the equipment 260 a, 260 c. In yet another embodiment, a thirdimage may be required to further narrow the number of possibilitiesand/or positively identify the equipment 260 a, 260 c. In anotherembodiment, one or more images may be utilized to narrow the number ofpossibilities and a list of possibilities is provided to the servicerequester 210 for further identification.

In another embodiment, a resource (e.g., see FIG. 4 resource 140-140 d)is provided to the service provider 220 and utilized to identifyequipment in an inventory of equipment assigned to the service requester210 and/or an inventory of equipment assigned to the location of theservice requester 210. Equipment may be assigned to the servicerequester and/or location from sales records, service records, inventoryrecords, equipment scanning and identification performed by servicerequester device 212 and/or records of past service requests.

In another embodiment, the service provider 220 may control of one ormore aspects of the service requester device 212. For example, theservice provider 220 may enable a wireless system 212 c (e.g., wirelesssystem such as a Bluetooth system or any other suitable wirelesscommunication protocol) on the service requester device 212 andwirelessly connects to wireless enabled equipment 260 b proximate theservice requester 210 via a suitable wireless communication protocol.One step may utilize the wireless system 212 c to perform an equipmentsurvey to determine the available wireless enabled equipment 260 b andoperational status of the available wireless enabled equipment 260 b.The available wireless enabled equipment 260 b and the operationalstatus of the available wireless enabled equipment 260 b may be providedto the inventory assigned to the service requester 210 and/or theinventory assigned to the location of the service requester 210. Theoperation status of the wireless enabled equipment 260 b may includehardware information, firmware information, software information andoperation information such as use history. The wireless connectionbetween the wireless system 212 c and the wireless enabled equipment 260b may identify the specific hardware, identify and/or upgrade specificsoftware, identify and/or upgrade specific firmware and identify anymaintenance needs of the wireless enabled equipment 260 c as describedhereinbelow.

The equipment survey may be utilized to generate a menu of availableequipment for the service requester 210 and the service requester 210may select the specific equipment related to the service request fromthe menu of available equipment displayed on display 212 d of theservice requester device 212.

In another embodiment, the service requester device 212 identifies RFIDequipment 260 c through communications established between the servicerequester device 212 and an RFID device positioned on the RFID equipment260 c.

In another embodiment, the service provider 220 may instruct the servicerequester 210 to electrically connect the service requester device 212to hardwired equipment 260 d. In one embodiment, a first end of anelectrical adaptor 261 (e.g., cable 261) connects to a port (e.g., USBor other serial port, dock connector, or PDMI connector) on the servicerequester device 212 and a second end of the electrical adaptor 261connects to a port or connector on hardwired equipment 260 d. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, the electrical connection may provide directcommunication between the hardwired equipment 260 d and the servicerequester device 212. The services requester device 212 may also providean indirect connection between the service provider device 221 and/orany system/resource connected to the service provider device 221. In oneembodiment, the electrical connection connects the service requesterdevice 212 to an EPROM (or other memory-like device) in the hardwiredequipment 260 d wherein the EPROM contains identification informationand/or operation information of the hardwired equipment 260 d. Inanother embodiment, the electrical connection connects the servicerequester device 212 to an identification circuit, such as, for example,an identifying resistor network (not explicitly shown) positioned in thehardwired equipment 260 d.

After determining the purpose and nature of the service request, theservice provider 220 provides assistance to the service requester 210.

FIG. 7 is a screen snap-shot 300 according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The screen snap-shot 300 in FIG. 7 includes many aspects andconcepts that may be independently utilized or utilized in anycombination thereof. The screen snap-shot 300 may be a service providerapplication 320 a proving an application display 322 on a screen 321 cof a service provider device 321 or screen snap-shot 300 may be aprogram application window displayed on a computer display (e.g., ccomputer monitor, touchscreen or similar display device) of a computersystem (not explicitly shown).

One aspect of the service provider application 320 a includes areplication of the service requester application window 312 c. In oneembodiment, the service requester application window 312 c replicatesand/or mirrors the display of the service requester device 212. Theimage allows the service provider 220 to view the presentation beingprovided to the service requester 210 on the service requester device212.

Service provider application 320 a is capable of directing variouscontent to the service requester device 212. Directed content may resideon, or may be generated by, the service provider device 321. Forexample, directed content may include live video and/or audio generatedin real-time by the service provider, files residing in memory on theservice provider device 321 (e.g., audio, video, text documents, images,etc. . . . ) or content generated real-time by the service provider.Directed content may be retrieved by the service provider device 321from an external source or system. For example, directed content may bea file provided from an external resource (See FIG. 4, e.g., resources140 assigned to the service provider group 150), electronicallydelivered to the service provider device 321 or directed content may beobtained from another system or resource (e.g., World Wide Web content).

The service requester application window 322 c displayed on the screen321 c of the service provider device 321 may also provide one or moreselectors 312 d, 312 f, 312 h and 312 j that control various aspects ofthe service requester device 212 and indicators 312 e, 312 g, 312 i and312 k that display the control status of the one or more selectors 312d, 312 f, 312 h and 312 j. Control selector 312 d enables or disablescontrol of the service requester device 212 wherein the servicerequester 220 may elect to disable control on the service requesterdevice 212 to prevent the service requester 210 from unintentionallychanging one or more settings on the service requester device 212.Service provider 210 may control various aspects of the servicerequester device 212 by pressing the control selector 321 c and thecontrol status is indicated by the control status indicator 312 e. Otherexamples of selectors and corresponding indicators may include anenable/disable video selector 312 f and video indicator 312 g, anenable/disable Bluetooth selector 312 h and Bluetooth indicator 312 iand/or additional programmable selector 312 j and programmable indicator312 k that can be configured to control other aspects of the servicerequester device 212.

With continued reference to FIG. 7, one or more additional displaywindows 323-329 may be provided on the screen 321 c by the serviceprovider application 320 a. Examples include a front-facing camerawindow 323 displaying the image captured by a front-facing camera of theservice requester device 212, a rear-facing camera window 324 displayingthe image captured by a rear-facing camera of the service requesterdevice 212, one or more resource windows 325-327 that connect to variousresources such as, for example, an individual resource window 325 (e.g.,Jonny Guru) or a service requester information window 326 (e.g.,displaying requester information), a troubleshooting tree window 327, anotes window 328 that may be used by the service provider 220 togenerate notes related to the service request and a whiteboard window329.

Service provider may “activate” a window by selecting the window323-325, 327 and 329 or by selecting the interconnecting line 323 a-325a, 327 a and 329 a that connects the corresponding window 323-325, 327and 329 and the service requester application window 312 c. Activating awindow shares the content of the activated window in the servicerequester application window 312 c (e.g., on the display 212 d of theservice requester device 212). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7,the whiteboard window 329 is active, as indicated by the interconnectingline 329 a being highlighted and displayed as “Active”. As such, thewhiteboard window 329 is shared with the service requester application320 a while the remaining windows 323-325, 327 are inactive (thefront-facing camera window 323, the rear-facing camera window 324, theindividual resource window 326 and the informational resource window327) and therefore not shared with the service requester 210. Activatinga new window may automatically disable the previously activated window.In one embodiment, activating a new window is performed by using thetouch screen to drag-and-drop the desired window into the servicerequester application window 312 c.

One or more windows may not be configured for sharing with the servicerequester 210 (e.g., non-sharable windows 326 and 328) as indicated bythe lack of a connection between the non-shareable windows 326, 328 andthe service requester application window 312 c. For example, the servicerequester information window 326 and the notes window 328 may includeinformation that should not be shared with the service requester 210,therefore, the service provider application window 322 automaticallydisables the ability to share the window and removes the interconnectionbetween the windows 326, 328 and the service requester applicationwindow 312 c.

Live video windows, e.g., front-facing camera window 323, rear-facingcamera window 324 and/or individual resource window 325, may include afreeze selector 323 b-325 b that captures the active frame of the livevideo from the respective camera window 323-325. The video window (e.g.,requester rear-facing camera window 324, requester front-facing camerawindow 323 and the individual resource window 325 (e.g., Jonny Guruwindow)) freeze/unfreeze selector 323 b-325 b is positioned in the lowerright corner of the respective window 323-325 and displays the text“freeze” when the window displays live video and selecting the freezeselector captures and displays the current video frame. The text“unfreeze” is displayed when the respective window displays a capturedframe and selecting the unfreeze returns the window to live video.

The live video window typically displays a low-resolution video feed tolimit the amount of bandwidth required to transmit the live videowindow. The low-resolution video feed may be limited with respect to thenumber of frames per second and limited with respect to the resolutionof each of the frames in the video feed. In one embodiment, selectingthe freeze selector 323 b-325 b changes one or more properties of thevideo feed that results in capturing a high-resolution image as thefrozen image. In another embodiment, selecting the freeze selector 323b-325 b changes the capture mode of the corresponding camera from avideo feed to a picture mode, thereby providing an image captured as apicture.

The live video window 324 may also include a light enable/disableselector switch 324 c that enables/disables a light (e.g., a flash)associated with the camera capturing the video/pictures for the livevideo window (see requester front-facing camera window 324). The serviceprovider 220 may enable/disable the light to facilitate use of theservice provider device 212 in poor light conditions.

At any point during the service request the service provider 220 maycall (e.g. invite) additional resources to join the service call. Forexample, the call selector 325 d-327 d in the bottom left corner of theindividual resource window 325 (e.g., Jonny Guru window), the bottomleft corner of the service requester information window 326 and thebottom left of the troubleshooting tree window 327, when selected,provides a list of group resources that may be requested and utilized asa resource.

Images and/or documents may be brought into the whiteboard window 329via a source drop-down box 329 e. When selected, the source drop-downbox 329 e allows the service provider 220 to select from a number ofsource locations. One source location includes the display windows323-325 and 327 on the service provider application display 322.Selecting a display window 323-325 and 327 captures an image from theselected window and displays the image in the whiteboard. Alternatively,the service provide 220 may simply drag-and-drop the image from adisplay window 323-325 and 327 into the whiteboard window 329 asdescribed above.

The source drop-down box 329 e also allows the service provider 220 toselect files from the service provider device 221 or from any filestorage system connected to the service provider device 221. The filesmay include an image file, a text file or any other file that may beconverted for display on the whiteboard. Images and/or documents on thewhiteboard window 329 may be repositioned and/or resized usingone-finger or two-finger gestures.

The source drop-down box 329 e may also allow the service provider 220to select from a library of images. In one embodiment, the content ofthe library is dynamically selected to provide images related to theparticular service request. The dynamic selection may be determined bythe equipment identified during the service request, the page displayedon the troubleshooting tree window 327, information included in theservice requester information window 326, the location of the servicerequester 210 or any other information that identifies the nature of theservice request.

The whiteboard window 329 allows annotations (e.g., edits, modificationsand/or erasing) of the image displayed in the whiteboard window 329.Image annotations may be performed while the images are active anddisplayed on the service requester application window 312 c orannotations may be performed while the image displayed on the whiteboardwindow 329 are inactive wherein the images may be shared (e.g., madeactive) with the service requester application window 312 c.

Annotations may be selected from pen annotations, object annotations andtext annotation. The pen annotation selector 329 f provides free handdrawing on the whiteboard window 329 with a stylus and/or fingertip.Object annotations selector 329 g provide one or more shapes to beselected and the object (of the selected shape) is drawn on thewhiteboard window 329 with a stylus and/or fingertip. A text annotationselector 329 h provides a string of text characters to be entered by akeyboard and positioned in a text box.

In one embodiment, each annotation is sent between the service requesterapplication 212 a and the provide provider application 221 a as amessage containing content for recreating the annotation. A message maycontain content for recreating one or more annotation or message maycontain content recreating an original annotation and subsequent edits,revisions or additions to the original annotation.

In one embodiment, annotations are performed using the menu structure onthe whiteboard window 329. In another embodiment, tapping the servicerequester application window 312 c (on the service provider applicationdisplay 322) or tapping the service requester device 212 provides anannotation menu that allows annotations to be drawn directly on theservice requester application window 312 c. Annotation menu may alsoinclude a refresh annotation button and/or a clear annotation buttonthat clear all annotations on the service requester application.

Annotations performed by the service requester 210 on the servicerequester device 212 and annotations performed by the service provider220 on the service provider device 221 are sent between the servicerequester application 212 a and the service provider application 221 avia XMPP messages.

Annotations performed by the service provider 220 are indicated asservice provider annotations and annotations performed by the servicerequester 210 are indicated as service requester annotations.Annotations may be indicated by colors, line weight, line type, fontsize, font type or any other suitable method that uniquelydifferentiates the annotations.

Shape annotations include one or more parameters required to redraw andposition the redrawn shape annotation. For example, circle annotationswould require a center point, a radius and an indicator (e.g., serviceprovider annotation or service requester annotation). Other attributes(e.g., line weight or line type) may be provided as additionalparameters.

A text annotation would require a position parameter that identifies thelocation of the text body, the message for the text annotation and anindicator (e.g., provider annotation or requester annotation). Otherattributes (e.g., font type, font size, font style, font color and anyother text body attribute) may be provided as additional parameters.

Pen annotations may require a message containing a series of points andan indicator (e.g., provider annotation or requester annotation). Otherattributes (e.g., color, line weight, or line type) may be provided asadditional parameters.

Each annotation may be provided as a single messages or a message maycontain a plurality of annotations in order to provide a near-real-timetransfer of the annotations between the service requester application212 a and the service provider application 221 a and to optimum the useof bandwidth.

In one embodiment, an annotation (e.g., shape annotation, pen annotationand/or text annotation) is drawn on the service requester device 212 bythe service requester 210. The service requester application 212 agenerates an annotation message that includes annotation parametersrequired to redraw the annotation and sends the annotation message tothe service provider application 221 a. The service provider application221 a redraws the annotation according to the annotation parameters onthe service provider device 221.

In another embodiment, an annotation originally generated by the servicerequester 210 on the service requester device 212 is modified by theservice provider 220. For example, the service requester 210 may draw afree-hand circle that identifies a first attribute of the imagedisplayed on the service requester device 212. The service requesterdevice 212 generates and sends an annotation message to the serviceprovider application 221 a, which, in turn redraws the annotation in theservice requester application window 312 c. The service provider 220 mayselect and move the annotation created by the service requester 210 toidentify a second attribute of the image displayed in the servicerequester application window 312 c. Service provider device 221generates and sends a new annotation message to the service requesterapplication 212 a and the service requester application 212 a redrawsthe annotation on the service requester device 212.

The source drop-down box 329 e may include a save function that allowsthe service provider 220 to save and/or send the annotated graphicsgenerated during the service request.

A troubleshooting tree window 327 provides a troubleshooting templatefor the service provider 220. The troubleshooting tree window 327 may bean interactive troubleshooting tree, a text-based troubleshooting tree atext-searchable troubleshooting document or any other suitabletroubleshooting document or system.

The individual resource window 325 is an example of an individualresource that may be brought into the service request to provide expertinformation and assist with the service request. For example, a subjectmatter expert may be invited to join the service request through theservice communication network 100 or through a third party conferencingsystem that interfaces with the service provider application 221 a.

Service provider application 221 a may also include avertical/horizontal selector 322 c. Selection of the vertical/horizontalselector 322 c rotates the windows 312 c and 323-329 in the serviceprovider application 321 a (and subsequently the image in the servicerequester application 212 a) 90 degrees switching the view from aportrait view to a landscape view.

Upon completion of the service request, the service communicationnetwork 100 may be configured to generate a service log and/or a servicerequest report that includes one or more of the following: time and datestamp of the service request; duration of the service request;identification of the service requester 210; identification of theresources and/or group notified of the service request; the identity ofthe service provider 220 that accepted the service request, theidentification of the service requester device 221; the location of theservice requester device 221; a video and/or audio transcript of theservice request; a written transcript of the audio; graphics displayedon the service provider application 221 a; annotations made to thegraphics displayed during the service request; and notes entered andsaved during the service request.

In another embodiment, the service log may be used to generate amicrosite with information from the conversation and links to themicrosite may be provided to the service requester 210, the serviceprovider 220 and the selected service group and/or resources notifiedfor the service request for review and/or use during a subsequentservice request.

In embodiments, the service requester device 212 may be used tocommunicate with wireless-enabled equipment (target equipment) locatedproximate the service requester device 212. Thus, as a service requesterdevice 212 is carried through a facility by the device user (e.g., adoctor or a service technician), the service requester device 212communicates with nearby wireless-enabled target equipment.Communication may be limited to identification of the wireless-enabledtarget equipment or communication may include execution of variousservice-related functions.

A service requester application 221 a running on the service requesterdevice 221 may include a routine that periodically searches forwireless-enabled target equipment. The search routine may beperiodically performed during a low-power communication mode of theservice requester device 212 to conserve power. While the servicerequester device 212 is establishing a connection with the targetequipment, or after the service requester device 212 establishes aconnection with the target equipment, the service requester device 212may store information relating to the target equipment, including aphysical location, a unique equipment identifier, software/firmwareidentifiers (e.g., version information), hardware identifiers,software/hardware parameters, and/or the current user (e.g., hospitaladdress determined based on the physical location).

As the service requester device 212 is carried through a facility, theservice requester device 212 may prepare a report of the status of thetarget equipment in the facility. After the service requester device 212is carried out of the facility, the service requester device 212 maytransmit the report to a central computer system. This information maybe archived in the central computer system for future use. For example,this information may be used by members of the service provider group ona future service request call to determine if equipment includes themost recent software version or to determine if the equipment isoperation and/or safe for use.

The service requester device 212 may also generate an alert or messageto notify the user of the service requester device 212 of the status ofthe target equipment. For example, the service requester device 212 maygenerate a message indicating that the target equipment requires serviceand/or generate a message indicating that the software of the targetequipment requires and update or upgraded. In embodiments, the centralcomputer system may issue a command to the service requester device 212to perform an electronic upgrade of the target equipment. In response tothe command, the service requester device 212 may wirelessly update thesoftware of the target equipment. Alternatively, the central computersystem may provide instructions to the user of the service requesterdevice 212 to connect the service requester device 212 to the targetequipment via a cable to allow the central computer system to performservice-related functions.

The central computer system or a service provider group associated withthe central computer system may provide other instructions to the userof the service requester device 212. For example, the service providergroup may instruct the user of the service requester device 212 toposition the camera of the service requester device 212, how tophysically configure the target equipment (e.g., connect a particularcable to the target equipment and another device), and how to operatethe target equipment for a particular purpose (e.g., for troubleshootingpurposes). In some embodiments, the service requester device 212 maygenerate a work order for replacement parts or service for the targetequipment based on the communications between the service requesterdevice 212 and the target equipment.

In embodiments, once the service requester device 212 establishescommunications with target equipment, the service requester device 212may further establish communication with a service provider groupassociated with the central computer system to facilitate communicationsthe target equipment. The service provider group may obtain control ofthe service requester device 212 to facilitate the required service onthe target equipment.

The service requester application 212 a may download settings that arespecific to a user (e.g., a Doctor) to the target equipment. The servicerequester application 212 a may also upload settings that are specificto the user from the target equipment. The uploaded settings may besaved for future use by the user. For example, a doctor may perform asurgical procedure using an electrosurgical system programmed with aspecific set of user programmable settings. After the surgicalprocedure, the doctor may upload the specific set of user programmablesettings from the electrosurgical system thereby storing the settings inthe service requester device 212. As discussed hereinabove with respectto FIG. 4, the specific set of programmable settings may be provided toa centralized database, such as the service requester information 140 d(e.g., information related to the service requester 110 h selected fromone or more databases). In preparation for a future surgical procedure,the doctor may retrieve the service requester information 140 d, reviewthe specific set of user programmable settings used during the priorsurgical procedure and may utilize the service requester device 212 todownload the a set of user programmable settings to the electrosurgicalsystem being used for the future surgical procedure.

Returning to FIG. 5, the bandwidth of the active communications channel(e.g., in a Wi-Fi or 3G network) in the service communication network200 between the service requester device 212 and the service providerdevice 221 may fluctuate from time-to-time. The service communicationnetwork according to the present disclosure adapts to the availablebandwidth of the active communications channel. As the bandwidth of theactive communications channel decreases, the video quality decreasesuntil the service requester device 212 stops transmitting video. Whenthe service requester device 212 stops transmitting video, however, allother services, including audio, annotations on frozen frames, andsending snapshots or files, continue to work if the connection betweenthe service requester device 212 and the service provider device 221 isnot broken. If the bandwidth of the active communications channel isinsufficient for an audio phone call, then the audio phone call isdropped or does not connect at all. If the bandwidth of the activecommunications channel increases above a predetermined bandwidth, thenvideo transmission resumes. If the bandwidth continues to increase, thenthe video quality increases until the video quality is limited by theprocessing power of the service requester device 212.

The bandwidth may be measured by transmitting real data in a video callmode or test data in an audio-only mode through the data communicationschannel. During the video call mode, video stream data is sent and notest data is sent. During the audio-only mode, some test data isgenerated and transmitted. The bandwidth may be measured by either theservice requester application 221 a, The Cloud 230 server 202, 203, 204,or by the service requester application 212 a. The service communicationnetwork 200 may execute a calibration daemon that is configured toreceive test data, calculate the bandwidth, and return bandwidthinformation to the server requester application 221 a. In embodiments,the bandwidth may be measured on the side of a server 202, 203, 204because some data is stored in the socket's buffers on the servicerequester device 212 and/or the service provider device 221. In theaudio-only mode, bandwidth may be measured by transmitting test datafrom the service requester device 212 directly to the service providerdevice 221. To minimize the impact of the test data on the voice data,the test data may be transmitted from the service requester device 212to the service provider device 221 with low priority.

The service communication network 200 may incorporate techniques tooptimize the quality of the video data stream and the switching betweenaudio and video modes to provide the best user experience. As discussedhereinabove, communications, data and information is streamed throughone or more streaming server applications 202 that reside in The Cloud230. These optimization techniques may be implemented through a servicerequester application 212 a running on the service requester device 212and a streaming server application 202 (e.g., a video-proxy application)running on a server in The Cloud 230 connected between the servicerequester device 212, the service provider device 221 or any othersuitable computer, server and/or system incorporated into the servicecommunication network 100 described herein. The streaming serverapplication 202, while executed by a server in The Cloud 230, is nottied to a particular server and is used generically to describe avideo-proxy application that resides and executes in a server.

The service requester application 212 a and/or a communications server(server 202-204) residing in The Cloud 230 maintain a video qualityindex including video quality index values normalized between 0 to amaximum video quality index value. In embodiments, a higher index valuemeans higher video quality that requires higher bandwidth. The videoquality may be measured in terms of resolution, frames per second, orany other suitable property. To provide the highest video quality with agiven bandwidth, which may be unstable, the service requesterapplication 212 a may be configured to satisfy the following conditions:(1) the frame send operation queue must be able to take each newlycreated frame and pass it on to the data communications channel, (2) thesent frames confirmation queue size must be less than an allowed value,and (3) signals from the streaming server application 202 must confirmthat there is sufficient video data flow.

With respect to the first condition, there is an operations queue in theservice requester application 212 a that executes special operationsthat are configured to prepare every frame by providing it withadditional information and pushing it to the data communicationschannel. In embodiments, only one special operation is performed at anygiven time.

Whenever another frame is prepared (by the service requester device 212)to be sent or passed to the operation queue, the service requesterapplication 212 a checks for the current number of operations in theoperations queue. If this number of operations in the operations queueis more than one, which means that the current operations are delayedfor some reason (e.g., low bandwidth), the service requester application212 a removes all inactive operations from the operations queue andreports this to the optimization module. The removed inactive operationsmay include skipped frames. For each skipped frame there is qualitydecrease operation.

Each time a frame is skipped, the optimization module increments askipped-frame counter by one. On the other hand, each time a frameleaves the operations queue, the optimization module decrements theskipped-frame counter by one but not lower than 0. The optimizationmodule may also increment the skipped-frame counter by one if less thanfive seconds elapses between skipped frames. If, on the other hand, apredetermined amount of time elapses between skipped frames, theoptimization module decrements the skipped-frame counter by one. Thepredetermined amount of time is determined by a user's perceived qualityof the video. Parameters used in the optimization module may beconfigured such that video perceived by a user as poor qualityincrements the skipped-frame counter and video perceived by a user asgood quality decrements the skipped-frame counter. In one embodiment,the predetermined amount of time that elapses between skipped frames isabout five seconds.

Whenever the skipped-frame counter reaches a critical number of skippedframes, the optimization module reports this to a rest application,which switches the service requester device 212 to audio-only mode. Thecritical number of skipped frames may depend on the current video dataflow rate. The critical number of skipped frames may be selected basedon a user's perception of unacceptable video quality or selected by thecurrent frames per second (FPS) value multiplied by an unacceptableamount of video delay in seconds. For example, in embodiments, thecritical number of skipped frames may be equal to the current frames persecond (FPS) value multiplied by 4, i.e., the number of frames for 4seconds of video.

As stated above, to provide the highest video quality with a givenbandwidth, the service requester application 212 a may be configured torequire that the sent frames confirmation queue size is less than anallowed value. For every frame that is transmitted from the servicerequester device 212, the service requester device 212 may receive aconfirmation signal. Whenever a frame is created and placed in the framesend operations queue, a new confirmation timer is set for aconfirmation time interval and added to the sent frames confirmationqueue. The confirmation time interval may depend on the video FPS,latency to the streaming server application 202, and a constant delta.In embodiments, the confirmation time interval may be calculatedaccording to the following expression:confirmation time=1/fps+latency+delta (seconds)

The latency value may be obtained from a time sync operation. The deltavalue is configurable and may be set equal to 0.5. The confirmation timerefers to the maximum wait time for a frame confirmation signal. If anyconfirmation timer elapses, then the optimization module decreases thevideo quality. After a change in video quality is performed, furtheradjustments or changes may be delayed to account for hysteresis orde-bouncing. In addition, if any frame is not confirmed, i.e., noconfirmation signal or dropped signal is received, for a maximum allowedtime interval, then the service requester application 212 a is switchedto the audio-only mode. Frames may not be confirmed because there may besome critical problems in the data communications channel or on thestreaming server application 202. The confirmation time interval dependson maximum allowed delay and latency to the streaming server application202. The confirmation time interval may be calculated according tofollowing expression:maximum wait time=maximum allowed delay+latency

The maximum allowed delay is a pre-defined value and, in embodiments,may equal four seconds. Latency is dependant on the video quality andthe ability of the system to effectively transmit data (e.g., video,audio and other data) across the network. As such, latency is variableand dependent on at least the selected video quality.

If the number of confirmation timers in the confirmation queue is lessthan an allowed size value, then a new frame is added to the frame sendoperations queue and this is reported to the optimization module. Theallowed size for the confirmation queue depends on the confirmationtimer time interval and the video data flow rate. The allowed size maybe calculated according to the following expression:allowed confirmation queue size=confirmation time×fps

If the number of confirmation timers in the confirmation queue is morethan the allowed size, then a frame is skipped and this is reported tothe optimization module. If the number of confirmation timers in theconfirmation queue is less than an allowed size value, then a frame isadded to the frame send operations queue and this is reported to theoptimization module.

As described above, to provide the highest video quality with a givenbandwidth, the service requester application 212 a may be configured sothat the signals from the streaming server application 202 confirm thatthere is sufficient video data flow. The streaming server application202 sends the service requester application 212 a signals regarding thevideo data flow. These signals may include a “frame was received”signal, a “frame was dropped” signal, and a “video cutoff” signal.

The streaming server application 202 may calculate the number of framesdropped in sequence and send the “video cutoff” signal to the servicerequester application 212 a if the number of dropped frames is more thanthe number of frames that would normally be provided in a video streamduring a predetermined dropped-frame period. The current FPS value maybe taken from the HTTP MJPEG header of the frame (the header alsoincludes frame quality and compression level information). Inembodiments, the default current fps value is 3 FPS. Thus, if thepredetermined dropped-frame period is 2 seconds, then 3 fps×2 seconds=6frames should be dropped in sequence before the server application sendsthe “video cutoff” signal to the service requester device 212.

If the service requester application 212 a receives a “frame wasdropped” signal, the service requester application 212 a decreases thevideo quality. If the service requester application 212 a receives the“video cutoff” signal, the service requester application 212 a switchesthe service requester application 212 a to the audio-only mode. For boththe “frame was dropped” and “frame was received” signals, the servicerequester application 212 a unschedules the confirmation timer for anappropriate frame number and removes it from sent frames confirmationqueue.

If all conditions are satisfied, i.e., there are no dropped and skippedframes for a last period of time and no cutoff signals are received,during the capture and send process, the service requester application212 a increases the video quality. If frames are added to the frame sendoperations queue and no frames were dropped or skipped during an allowedtime, the optimization module increases the video quality byincrementing the video quality index value and applying an appropriatevideo quality setting. The quality increase time depends on a previousdecrease quality number and may be calculated according to the followingexpression:quality increase time=base time×(1+decrease quality number/4)

The base time is configurable and may be set to 20 seconds. The maximumallowed value for the quality increase time may be 90 seconds.

The communication system according to the present disclosure mayincorporate a feedback mechanism in which the service provider device221 transmits the amount of data actually received by the serviceprovider device 221 to the service requester device 212. The servicerequester application 212 a running on the service requester device 212may use this bandwidth data to optimize the video stream.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 and described above, the service communicationnetwork 200 includes two applications: a service requester application212 a running on a service requester device 212 and a service providerapplication 221 a running on the service provider device 221. Inembodiments, the service requester application 212 a and the serviceprovider application 221 a work together as a single media transfer andreceiver system. The service requester application 212 a obtains a videostream from one or more cameras 212 b (See FIG. 6) of the servicerequester device 212 and transmits the video stream to the serviceprovider application 221 a through private and public networks. Inembodiments, the service requester application 212 a may reside behind afirewall 232 b that prohibits the service provider application 221 afrom issuing a request to receive video data from the service requesterapplication 212 a. Thus, the service communication network 100 may alsoinclude a server application 205 located at a public network such as TheCloud 230. The server application 205 is generically referenced in FIG.5 as residing in The Cloud 230 and may be incorporated into any one ofthe streaming server application 202, the annotation/session serverapplication 203, the file server application 204 or function as anindependent application that reside and execute on a server in The Cloud230. Both the service requester application 212 a and the serviceprovider application 221 a may connect to the server application 205 andthe server application 205 multiplexes the data flow between the servicerequester and service provider applications 212 a, 221 a. Both theservice requester and service provider applications 212 a, 221 a connectto the server application 205, which may be incorporated into usingpredetermined pair information. Once the service requester and serviceprovider applications 212 a, 221 a connect to the server application205, the server application 205 behaves like a tunnel or data pipelinebetween the two connections. The server application 205 may sendfeedback to or from the service requester and service providerapplications 212 a, 221 a.

The server application 205 may include the following modules: a setupmodule, a registration module, a pairing module, a communicationprocessing module, and an admin module. The setup module readsconfiguration parameters (e.g., source data and signal ports and numberof threads) from a server configuration file. The setup module uses theconfiguration parameters to open two listening sockets for requester andservice provider application 212 a, 221 a data connections, twolistening sockets for requester and provider signal connections, and/oran administration port. The registration module identifies and validatesincoming requester and provider connection requests. The pairing moduleevaluates the proper peers of the service requester and providerconnection pairs.

The communication processing module processes the data multiplexingbetween the service requester and provider connections. The admin modulehandles administration information requests on the admin port. Adminrequests may include requests to view the overall system state or toview different logs.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a setup thread 800 for the setup moduleaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure. In Step 810, thesetup module reads the configuration parameters from a configurationfile for the server application 205 and sets up all of the modules ofthe server application 205 accordingly. If the administrative service isenabled (Step 812) an administration startup procedure is executed (Step814). The setup module creates a main thread 800 a for acceptingincoming connection requests (Step 820). The setup module also creates athread for each of the registration module, the pairing module, and thecommunication processing module.

The main thread 800 a creates four server sockets (two data sockets DSTconnections and two signal sockets SRC Connections). Main thread 800 alistens on the source and destination ports (Step 820) for any incomingsource or destination data and signal connections. When an incomingconnection request comes in on any of the ports (Step 822, Step 824) themain thread 800 a accepts the request (Step 823, 825) and creates a newsocket or pipe for that connection (Step 826). Then, the main thread 800a hands over the new connection socket to the registration thread (Step830) so that the main thread 800 a can make itself free to accept otherincoming connection requests. After the main thread 800 a hands the newconnection socket to the registration thread (Step 830), the main thread800 a again waits for new connection requests (Steps 822 and 824).

Referring now to FIG. 9 shown above, the registration thread 900 staysin a waiting state (Step 910) to wait for new sockets for registration.When the main thread 900 a pushes a new socket (Step 920) to theregistration thread 900, the registration thread 900 reads pairinginformation of the socket (Step 930). For data connections, the pairinginformation is used to create a pipe between the service requester andprovider sockets. For signal connections, the pairing informationassociates the signal and data connections that are opened from the samedevice (Step 950). In embodiments, the pairing information for bothrequester and provider connections may have the following format:

src_name=<iPhoneUUID>&dst_name=<iPadUUID>&[EOL].

After reading the pairing information, the registration thread 900registers the connection type (e.g., requester or provider), theconnection name, and the peer name for the connection (Step 980). Theconnection type is determined based on the port requested by the servicerequester or service provider application 212 a, 221 a. As shown in thepairing information above, the connection name and the peer name may bea universally unique identifier (UUID). The connection name and the peername may be read from the peer information.

In the registration process, the server application 205 may hold aparticular connection for up to a maximum registration wait time, whichmay be set in the configuration file. If the server application 205cannot read the pairing information (Steps 930) for the connectionwithin the maximum registration wait time, a time out error or read lineerror is detected (Step 940) and the server application 205 closes thatconnection (Step 970). The registration thread 900 extracts the SRC andDST names from the line string (Step 950) and if the pairing informationis read properly (Step 960), the registration thread 900 registers theconnection for pairing (Step 980) and forwards the registered connectionto the pairing thread (Step 980). The registration thread 900 then waitsfor a new connection for registration (Step 910).

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a pairing thread 1000 for the pairingmodule. The pairing thread 1000 may be a dedicated thread that waits fornew connections for pairing (Step 1010). After the registration thread1000, the server application 205 has the identification information ofany connection. After receiving a new registered connection (Step 1020),the pairing thread 1000 attempts to match pair information of registeredconnections (Step 1030). When the pairing thread finds a match (Step1033) of pair information between two data and two signal source anddestination connections (Step 1033), it validates the SRC/DST names andconnections (Step 1040), and if validated (Step 1043) the pairing thread1000 creates a pair of data connections (Step 1050) and prepares thepair for processing (Step 1060).

In the pairing process, the server application 205 may hold a particularconnection for up to a maximum pairing wait time. The maximum pairingwait time may be set in the configuration file of the server application205. If a particular connection cannot have a peer connection (Step1033), then the server application 205 closes that connection (Step1036). If the pairing thread finds a match of source and destinationnames between similar kinds of connections (e.g., SRC-SRC data, DST-DSTdata, SRC-SRC signal, and DST-DST signal; Step 1033), then it closes theolder similar connection and keeps the newer similar connection forfuture pairing (Step 1046). If the pairing thread finds a match in thesource name but a mismatch in the designation name of the pairinginformation of two different types of connections (Step 1043), then itcloses the recent connection (Step 1046).

FIG. 11 illustrates a pair processing thread 1100 for processing thepaired source and destination sockets from the pairing thread 1100.There may be multiple pair processing threads 110 that are eitherwaiting to process new socket pairs or that are already processing newsocket pairs. The maximum number of pair processing threads 1100 may beconfigured in the server application 205 configuration file.

When a new socket pair arrives for processing (From Step 1160), one ofthe multiple pair processing threads 1100 that is waiting to process anew socket pair (Step 1110) starts processing the new socket pair (FromStep 1160). First, the pair processing thread sends a response header(e.g., an HTTP response header) for the video data-type (e.g., MJPEG) tothe destination socket (Step 1130). Next, the pair processing threadreads video data frames (e.g., MJPEG frames) from the source socket andforms video data packets including a separator, headers, and a videodata frame (Step 1140). Then, the pair processing thread sends the videodata packets to the destination socket (i.e., the provider connection).

In embodiments, the server application 205 holds the last read frame ina buffer. The server application 205 configuration file may include aconfiguration parameter that enables dropping frames from the buffer. Ifthe server application 205 finishes reading a new video data frame andthe configuration parameter is set to enable dropping frames, then theserver application 205 drops an old frame from the buffer and adds thenew frame to the buffer. If, on the other hand, the configurationparameter is not set to enable dropping frames, then the serverapplication 205 stops reading new frames until an old frame is clearedfrom the buffer.

The server application 205 may determine whether the number of framesthat are dropped in sequence is more than a threshold number of droppedframes. If the number of frames that are dropped in sequence is morethan the threshold number of dropped frames, then the server may send asignal to the service requester application 212 a to stop sending framesto the server application 205 and to switch to the audio-only mode. Thissignal may be sent using the signal connection described above.

In embodiments, the threshold number of dropped frames may equate to thenumber of dropped frames over a predetermined period. For example, ifthe current FPS is 3 FPS and the predetermined period is 2 seconds, thenthe threshold number of dropped frames is 3 FPS×2 sec.=6 frames.

If any of the sockets are closed or if there is a socket error (Step1150), then the socket pair is closed (Step 1160) and the pairprocessing thread 1100 again waits to process a new socket pair. Theserver application 205 may dedicate a single thread for processing eachnew socket pair.

As illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the service communication network200 may support signal connections 200 a, 200 b between the serverapplication 205 and the respective service requester device 212 200 aand service provider device 221. The signal connections 200 a, 200 b maybe used to perform a variety of functions including synchronizing thetime between the service requester device 212 and the server application205 and to send feedback information from the server application 205 tothe service requester device 212. In embodiments, the signal datatransmitted via a signal connection 200 a, 200 b may be structured as a16-byte word in which the first 2 bytes define the signal type and theremaining 14 bytes is the payload.

The current time on the server application 205, the service requesterdevice 212, and the service provider device 221 may be different. Insome situations, however, the timestamps of the service requester device212 and the server application 205 cannot be compared to each other sothat the current time can be synchronized. To determine the timedifference between the devices, the server may perform the followingprocedure:

1. The service requester device 212 establishes data and signalconnections 1205 to the server application 205 and waits for a timesynchandshake 1207 a-1207 c from the server application 205.

2. The server application 205 receives a connection 1205 a, 1205 b fromboth the service requester device 212 and the service provider device221, creates a connection pair, and sends a timesync handshake messageto the service requester device 212. The timesync handshake message 1207a-1207 c notifies the service requester device 212 when it can start thesynchronization procedure.

3. The service requester device 212 obtains its current time (rsd_tm1),puts it into a signal message (e.g., puts it into 4-7 bytes of thesignal message), and sends the signal message to the server application205. (Step 1210)

4. The server application 205 receives the signal message from theservice requester device 212, obtains its current time (vps_tm1), putsit into the same signal message (e.g., puts it into 8-11 bytes of thesignal message) and sends the signal message back to service requesterdevice 212. (Step 1220)

5. The service requester device 212 receives the signal message, obtainsits current time (rsd_tm2), puts it into the same signal message (e.g.,puts it into 12-15 bytes of the signal message), and sends the signalmessage to the server application 205. (Step 1230)

6. The server application 205 receives the signal message from theservice requester device 212 (Step 1240), obtains its current time(vps_tm2) and calculates a timesync value using the following formula:timesync=vps_tm2−rsd_tm2−min(rsd_rt_tm,vps_rt_tm)/2, wherersd_rt_tm=rsd_tm2−rsd_tm1−service requester device round trip time, andvps_rt_tm=vps_tm2−vps_tm1−server application 205 round trip time.

The server application 205 uses the calculated timesync value tosynchronize the timestamps of the service requester device 212 and theserver application 205.

As described above, the server application 205 may send feedback signals1209 to the service requester device 212 via a signal connection. Thefeedback signals 1209 may include: cutoff signals, confirmation signals,and dropped frame signals. The cutoff signal notifies the servicerequester application 212 a that video data transmitted from the servicerequester device 212 to the service provider device 221 must be cutoff.When the service requester application 212 a receives a cutoff signal,it stops sending video data to the server application 205. In otherembodiments, the server application 205 may take control of the servicerequester device 212 and stop the service requester device 212 fromsending video data to the service provider device 221.

The server application 205 may send a cutoff signal when a variety ofappropriate conditions are satisfied. These conditions may include: (1)A sequence of frames have been dropped on the server application 205side, (2) the server application 205 has not received a frame for morethan a predetermined period (e.g., 3 seconds), (3) the serverapplication 205 started reading a frame more than a predetermined timeago (e.g., 3 seconds) but has not yet finished reading, and (4) theserver application 205 received a frame that was created on the servicerequester device 212 more than a predetermined time ago (e.g., 3seconds). The cutoff signals may contain information regarding thecondition that triggered the server application 205 to send the cutoffsignal.

A multifunctional communication device includes functionalityadvantageous for the system disclosed herein. It is envisioned that afixed computer workstation could be configured to identical orsubstantially similar functionality. For example, a computer workstationequipped with the required hardware and software may connect to aservice communication network 100. Computer workstation may be equippedwith service requester software configured to original a servicerequest, service provider software configured to accept a servicerequest or both.

The service communication network 100, 200 disclosed herein is describedin the context of a “service requester” and a “service provider.” Thesystems and methods may be used in a variety applications that includeone or more aspects of the functionality described herein. The serviceprovider 220, in addition to the aspects described herein, may includeinformation providers (product representatives), daily assistanceproviders or practically anyone in need of assistance. In oneembodiment, the service communication network 100 is used to assist avisually challenged individual in identifying medicines wherein theservice requester may be a relative and the resources available may bemedical professionals or a local pharmacist. In another embodiment, theservice communication network 100 is used to assist a technicallychallenged individual in connecting and using components of anelectronic system.

In yet another embodiment, the service provider group is selected fromone or more members of a social network wherein the members aredynamically selected based information available on the social network.For example, placing a request for assistance to connect components ofan electronic system may generate a service provider group consisting ofsocial network connections with degrees or interests in electronics. Inthe social networking contexts, multiple service providers may join therequest for assistance using their service provider device 221. Therequester and provider applications may be incorporated into an existingsocial networking application.

In yet another embodiment, the service communication network 200includes an instructor (e.g., provider) and a plurality of students(e.g., requesters) wherein the instructor provides instructions to theplurality of students. For example, a remote learning environment mayrequire a laboratory component, in addition to a standard classroomlecture component, as required coursework. A service communicationnetwork 100 may be assembled to include an instructor and the pluralityof students. The instructor application provides a connection asdescribed herein to each of the plurality of students to monitor. Theinstructor may simultaneously display video from each of the pluralityof students. The instructor may provide the plurality of students avideo feed from any assigned or available resources as described herein.The instructor may direct the video from one of the plurality ofstudents to the remaining plurality of students to share the onestudent's laboratory experience.

In a further embodiment, the service requester application 212 a andservice provider application 221 a include the functionality of a mobiletelephone with access to a contact listing and capable of placing andreceiving phone calls.

While several embodiments of the disclosure have been shown in thedrawings, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited thereto, asit is intended that the disclosure be as broad in scope as the art willallow and that the specification be read likewise. Therefore, the abovedescription should not be construed as limiting, but merely asexemplifications of particular embodiments. Those skilled in the artwill envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of theclaims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A conferencing system for providing remoteassistance, the conferencing system comprising: a service requesterdevice configured to execute a service requester application and tocapture an image of a surgical device; a service provider deviceconfigured to execute a service provider application; and a computerserver remotely located from the service requester device and theservice provider device, the computer server configured to select theservice provider device from a plurality of service provider devices andto execute a server application to establish a connection between theservice requester application and the service provider application,wherein at least one of the service requester device, the serviceprovider device, or the server application is configured to identify thesurgical device, and the service provider device is configured tocontrol the surgical device via the connection established between theservice requester application and the service provider application. 2.The conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe service requester device, the service provider device, or the serverapplication is configured to identify the surgical device based on theimage of the surgical device captured by the service requester device.3. The conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the connectionis selected between one of an audio connection, an audio and videoconnection, an audio and still image connection, or a SMS messagingconnection.
 4. The conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein thecomputer server is configured to select the service provider devicebased on a location of the service requester device.
 5. The conferencingsystem according to claim 1, wherein the service provider device isconfigured to identify the surgical device based on a communicationbetween the service requester device and the surgical device.
 6. Theconferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the service providerdevice is configured to identify the surgical device based on aconnection between the service requester device and the surgical device.7. A conferencing system for providing remote assistance, theconferencing system comprising: a service requester device networkedwith a service provider device through a server application, the servicerequester device configured to capture an image of a surgical device,wherein at least one of the service requester device, the serviceprovider device, or the server application is configured to identify thesurgical device and the server application is configured to select theservice provider device from a plurality of service provider devices,and wherein the service provider device is configured to control thesurgical device via a communication established between the servicerequester device and the surgical device.
 8. The system according toclaim 7, wherein the service requester device includes a video monitorand wherein the service provider device is configured to direct contentto the video monitor of the service requester device.
 9. The systemaccording to claim 8, wherein the service provider device is configuredto display an annotation on the video monitor of the service requesterdevice.
 10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the serviceprovider device is configured to display content on the video monitor ofthe service requester device.
 11. The system according to claim 10,wherein the content displayed on the service requester device is avideo.
 12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the contentdisplayed on the service requester device is an image.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 7, wherein at least one of the service requesterdevice, the service provider device, or the server application isconfigured to identify the surgical device based on the image of thesurgical device captured by the service requester device.
 14. Aconferencing system for providing remote assistance, the conferencingsystem comprising: a service requester device configured to execute aservice requester application and to capture an image of a surgicaldevice; a plurality of service provider devices each configured toexecute a service provider application; and a computer server remotelylocated from the service provider device and remotely located from theservice requester device, the computer server configured to execute aserver application and to select a particular service provider devicefrom the plurality of service provider devices, the service requesterapplication configured to connect to the plurality of service providerdevices, wherein at least one of the service requester device, at leastone of the plurality of service provider devices, or the serverapplication is configured to identify the surgical device, and whereinthe particular service provider device is configured to control thesurgical device via a communication established between the servicerequester device and the surgical device.
 15. The system according toclaim 14, wherein at least one of the service requester device, at leastone of the plurality of service provider devices, or the serverapplication is configured to identify the surgical device based on theimage of the surgical device captured by the service requester device.16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the particular serviceprovider device is dynamically selected from the plurality of serviceprovider devices by the service requester device.
 17. The systemaccording to claim 16, wherein the dynamic selection of the particularservice provider device is related to a dynamic selection parameterselected by a user on the service requester device.
 18. The systemaccording to claim 17, wherein the dynamic selection parameter isselected from one of a selected instrument or device, a selectedlocation, a selected description of needed assistance, a selectedmedical procedure, an identifying feature, or an identification code.19. The system according to claim 16, wherein the dynamic selection ofthe particular service provider device is related to a dynamic selectionparameter generated by the service requester device.